A long day on the train. Scheduled times, 4:42 Kings Cross to Edinburgh, 3:35 Edinburgh to Inverness and the final leg 3:51. Distances 631km, 181 km and 130km. Trains getting slower as I travel north.
Kings Cross to the Far North
Tag: Brompton
Didcot to Paddington plus ULEZ
Caught a long delayed train instead of the one that I was meant to catch so I thought I’d get to London early. But further delays due to signal issues resulted in long delays on the way into London. But got there in the end. The train was 47 mins late according to the announcements. I was only 20 mins late.
Anecdotally the ULEZ is a success. London smells better. The traffic moves more freely. Pollution has reduced in London and I wonder if the pollution outside London has reduced. Pollution rises into the atmosphere in London and then comes down in Oxfordshire. Has anyone measured this?
In last weeks election the Conservative Party made much of the ULEZ. Unfortunately the primacy of the car still exists for a lot of people and is considered a vote winner. To me health and the environment trumps-why do we still think that poisoning people is acceptable?
Poole to Didcot
Cholsey-Poole
It’s a sunny warm day for the cycle to Cholsey station. Two changes at Reading and then Basingstoke.
The train from Basingstoke had ten carriages but only the front five going onto Poole. I made sure I got on the right half of the train.
Lots of interesting things to see on this trip including a view of St Mary’s Stadium, a view of Southampton Port, the New Forrest and various Dorset coastal towns.
Paris-London-Edinburgh
Cycled to the Tour d’Eiffel. Paris is really cycle friendly and it turns out that this is a really good way to see Paris. I was surprised by the tunnel with the street art.
No Window seat on the Eurostar means it’s not easy to get pictures from the train.
No seat booking but I am booked on the train. Stood up until we reached York.
Edinburgh Waverley
Madrid-Barcelona-Paris
Not enough time in Madrid due to the late arrival and catching the 1030 train.
The next leg on the very fast Spanish service is not covered by Interrail. So had to pay for the ticket in advance on Trainline. But I had not realised that there is a baggage allowance. So I had to pay extra to get my luggage on the train.
Changed to TGV at Barcelona,
Madrid-Barcelona-Paris
Not enough time in Madrid due to the late arrival and catching the 1030 train.
The next leg on the very fast Spanish service is not covered by Interrail. So had to pay for the ticket in advance on Trainline. But I had not realised that there is a baggage allowance. So I had to pay extra to get my luggage on the train.
Changed to TGV at Barcelona,
Bus to Madrid?
The Portuguese railway had let me down. But google maps says there’s a route by bus. The bus station is a short walk from the train station but is an ugly concrete construction with the buses waiting in a concrete cave of doom. To further improve my mood I ate the worst ever pizza in an eating establishment above the cave.
After asking where to wait several times and being reassured by bus number being shown, suddenly the number is replaced with a different service. Have I missed the bus? I chase around trying to find the bus getting no help whatsoever. Finally I stumble across the bus by chance. Another black mark against Portuguese public transport.
The bus driver is attentive and helpful, redeeming the service. And I am on my way. Change at Valladolid to get a late bus arriving at 0330 in Madrid. At least I will be back on track for tomorrow.
The Far North Line
This is a super beautiful route in the daylight, especially on a sunny day. But also super slow and super cheap. A bit miserable in the dark and the toilets never appear to be totally clean.
The ever changing landscape is amazing, one of the most beautiful train routes in the UK, and as far north you can get by train.
Mind, the windows are not clean.
